It states that “But the number of graduates working part-time has also climbed to 12 per cent, compared with 7.6 per cent a year ago.

SIT asked if they had opted for part-time positions over full-time jobs and found that only 5.5 per cent of them had chosen to do so.”

Does this mean that 84.5 per cent of those in part-time jobs did so because they couldn’t find a full-time job?

Or does it mean that 5.5 of the 12 per cent or almost half of them chose to work part-time?

“Other universities are showing this trend as well.

In a joint graduate employment survey released in February by Nanyang Technological University, National University of Singapore and Singapore Management University, 9.5 per cent of their graduates were working part-time last year, compared with 6.4 per cent in 2015.

Like SIT, nearly 90 per cent of the graduates of the three universities found work within six months of finishing their examinations.”

As to “Some SIT grads had opted for part-time work, including over 17 per cent of the food business management graduates with degrees from The Culinary Institute of America” – according to the Graduate Employment Survey – their full-time permanent employment rate was only 69 per cent, and the median basic salary was only $2,250.

Isn’t this a very low salary for a university graduate?

With regard to “The survey also found a higher number of part-timers among graduates from SIT’s communications design and interior design course” – the Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Communication Design’s full-time permanent employment rate was only 59.9 per cent, and the median basic salary was only $2,600.

Isn’t this a very low full-time permanent employment rate?

“Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say said in March that there were about 200,000 freelancers here last year – about 9 per cent of resident employment. Of these, about 167,000 workers were “primary” freelancers, such as insurance agents and private-hire car drivers, who freelance as their main job.”

30 Responses to “University graduates’ pay only $2,250?”

well, our sinkie land allows too many chat-ba-lang people from chat-ba-lang countries with first degrees to take masters / or have their first degree here and their asking starting pay also about there lar for now.

20 – 25 years, even a dip can command that kind of starting pay or higher ? so just think lor, sinkie land is improving or deteriorating lor ? good for businesses but not-so-good if you are just an average employee having to compete with all the chat-ba-lang people allowed to stroll in by the open-leg policy of the white mf idiots.

Too many people are still wedded to the extinct Ideal of a Job-centric world of good education -> well-paid jobs -> expensive house & continental car -> comfortable retirement with ample funds. But that ideal world had evaporated into the mist around 2000s the moment when the Internet & technology came into our lives.
There’s no more stability nor permanency in our lives today. As the world shifts to new technology; shifts to new paradigm ideas; shifts to new innovations & breakthroughs – changes will occur; disruptions will happen; your life would either change for the better or worse.
Sitting in S’pore is simply looking at the a*se-end of the technology spectrum. The PAP don’t believe in change, don’t believe in unproven technology or in new paradigms, they would only put their (ours?) money into proven technologies which are already behind the curve. Do you think they’ll succeed or make money? I don’t think so.
I’ve already seen the next S’porean generation drifting aimlessly in life. And these were my 1st hand observations on friends, business acquaintances & relative’s children who are all graduates. Many are simply without ambition, energy & drive to succeed. Kind-hearted parents have provided them with a level of comfort that they see no need to move out of their comfort zone – and that’s worrisome!
The smarter & competitive ones have already moved abroad to compete among the top talents in the global top capital cities eg. NYC, San Francisco, London, Tokyo, etc.
S’pore is being totally ignored/snub by 2 of the world’s largest economies ie. USA & China. The PAP has placed S’pore in a No-Man’s Land situation due to fear or uncertainty where the future will be as bleak as hell or as cold as ice.
S’pore may become like the Philippines one day under the PAP – where 50% to 60% worked overseas to contribute to the moribund Domestic economy. Without remittances, the domestic economy would collapse from lack of disposable income.
People, what do you think of my forward views? Too bleak, too unbelievable or simply indigestable! Thumbs down if you like but the truth can be painful if you’re in denial!

The headline is misleading because the $2,250 figure refers only to food management graduates. F&B never pays well. We have to look at the overall figure. The average starting salary for fresh graduates is $3,500 (mainly NUS and NTU). SMU graduates in particular, are very sought after, with their starting salaries $4,500-5,000. It also depends on the industry that you join. If you are an IT graduate but start working for a top oil & gas company, starting salary is almost $4,000. And overall, the global economy is doing well. We see salary increments in Singapore between 3-5%, with bonuses averaging 2-3 months. Compared to most countries in the developed world, our employment situation is very favourable and our wages are among the highest.

//Too many people are still wedded to the extinct Ideal of a Job-centric world of good education -> well-paid jobs -> expensive house & continental car -> comfortable retirement with ample funds//

but that’s what the white idiots sold (the idea and concept) to daft sinkies all this while right – e.g all the streaming at early age plus the school banner + brochures marketing champion students right.

it’s only recently (when economy not so good while at the same they imported shiploads of FTs, many converted to sinkies via their open-leg policy) that the white idiots are beginning to change the musical scripts and tune.

Ong PC: The headline is misleading because the $2,250 figure refers only to food management graduates. F&B never pays well. We have to look at the overall figure. The average starting salary for fresh graduates is $3,500 (mainly NUS and NTU). SMU graduates in particular, are very sought after, with their starting salaries $4,500-5,000. It also depends on the industry that you join. If you are an IT graduate but start working for a top oil & gas company, starting salary is almost $4,000. And overall, the global economy is doing well. We see salary increments in Singapore between 3-5%, with bonuses averaging 2-3 months. Compared to most countries in the developed world, our employment situation is very favourable and our wages are among the highest.

Your comments are full of huge-sized holes! A lot of my friends, business acquaintances & relatives’ children who are new graduates are having a tough time finding jobs. Examples:
* Your statement, ‘working for a top oil & gas company, starting salary is almost $4,000′ is very funny indeed. Was it meant as a joke? Oil & gas companies – have you not read the recent news; Swiber, Ezra, Nam Cheong, etc
* Your ‘overall, the global economy is doing well’ statement must be another joke, I presume? Broadcom just announced a HQ shift from S’pore to Delaware USA. I guess you didn’t know that?
* Furthermore, your ‘our employment situation is very favourable and our wages are among the highest’ is absolutely hilarious – compared to what – Timbuktu? African countries?

I went to a job interview at one of the major seafood restaurant which offered $2500 for management trainees. When asked my expected salary, I ask if $2500 is ok? The interviewer’s face became very displeased. My impression is that they never intended to pay the advertised amount and the actual salary offered is only half the amount. Of course, it’s six day week, 12 hour shifts with breaks in between. So why few people wants to work in F&B?

I am into oil and gas stocks investing but luckily for me, I don’t own a single share in either Swiber or Ezra but if I do, I would be very angry ( I will fiack the Chairman at the next AGM of shareholders) if either entity pays their fresh graduates $4,000 per month when they are languishing between life and death themselves.

I don’t think any central bank chairperson or governor among the major economic powerhouse dare says that. For a start, Janet Yellen DARE NOT raise US interest rate in the October Fed meeting. The ECB continues to buy not just sovereign bonds but also corporate bonds as well albeit on a reduced scale with the view to commence rolling over of some maturing bond sometime past the middle of 2018 calendar year. And Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of Chinese central bank, PBOC has two warnings of hidden terrifying risks embedded in the Chinese financial market and economy WITHIN A SPACE OF A FEW DAYS.

Ong PC needs to educate himself with these realities BEFORE HE COMES BACK TO FART MORE of his POLITICALLY-CORRECT STINKING GAS

Governor Zhou’s grim warning came after the 19th Congress meeting in Beijing last week adopted among one of its key priorities agenda is to rein in its debt-laden over-leveraged economy in which XJP warned that housing is for habitation, not for speculation.

@ Ong PC might fooled uninformed gullible peasants but not you and me.

In the 1970′s the starting pay for engineers was about S$1k per month. After 4 decades it has gone up to around $3k per month. Over the same period the price of HDB flats went up about 30x. Why? Because PAP pursued annual GDP growth through a low wage policy screwing Singaporeans big time while paying themselves (and their families in GLCs) millions annually.

PAP likes to call unemployed Singaporeans “freelancers”. What a joke? To make matters worse, it allows foreigner to also works as freelancers in Singapore depressing wages. Over time more and more Singaporeans will likely wind up as cab (or Uber/Grab) drivers for foreigners with good paying jobs in Singapore.

all of us are old and unemployed now. when one of us in construction site over 30 years ago, already S$1,500 p.m. in those days 5 room HDB not more than S$30k and real big ones.

freehold condo all 2,000 sq ft all below S$400k which we benefited at the expense of the next generation.

how much today much smaller 5 room HDB? but wage not much increased at S$2,250.

how much today 2,000 sq ft freehold condo? but wage not much increased at S$2,250.

well, the upward pricing by pap of LAND has caused invisible inflation. the harm started years ago is beginning to bite. the hardest hit are the young ones. we old ones who have benefited very much from the one off never to be repeated true pricing of land just shake our head how pap is going to come out of the LAND pricing hole it has dug itself into.

remember. even wage at S$5,000 p.m. it is way below the inflated LAND price today. any wonder why more and more retirees, the 70% sheep especially, have a depreciating expensively purchased HDB and no cash to retire on?

pap folks all S$m. do they really understand what life is at today’s LAND prices and S$2,250 p.m.? do they care? we think they don’t. that is why these pap folks keep thinking of ways and means of retaining citizens’ money in CPF. they have no clue most of these folks have nothing left to live on.

ever increasing LAND price and ever increasing S$m wage pap pays each other have killed Singaporeans, majority of them. only the some 12% of them are truly okay. the rest, especially the bottom 50% are screwed. yet they say okay at GE2015. this is the WTF.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
an INDIAN is a malay says pap. WTF.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Rebecca How Lian:
I went to a job interview at one of the major seafood restaurant which offered $2500 for management trainees. When asked my expected salary, I ask if $2500 is ok? The interviewer’s face became very displeased. My impression is that they never intended to pay the advertised amount and the actual salary offered is only half the amount. Of course, it’s six day week, 12 hour shifts with breaks in between. So why few people wants to work in F&B?

good for you. this small island nation is already doomed.

we think you are young. so we suggest you strike it out outside Singapore. not to be a hiree. rather, think the big picture. go to a place that allows first a small eatery, then two, then a chain.

if Singapore kaputs after you are successful, no point coming back and be crowded out of everything. stay where you are and contribute back to the people of the place that have given you success.

but if Singapore is run by another party, as long as not pap, you have a shot in own place of birth. come back. start your chain here. but remember. when you hire local born, give them a fair wage, not the S$2,500 which they never intended for local born even today.

best wishes to you. look outside Singapore. this is the time. because this place as long as continue to be run same same NO HOPE. don’t stick around and be crowded out of everything. no point. give yourself a chance too. outside is hard work too. but, if you plan well, at least you have a chance to making it. not here. as long as you are unconnected to the pap few, you have very little chance. because they already cornered the market themselves.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
a pig is a goat in pap Singapore. so an INDIAN is a malay in same pap Singapore. WTF.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

When I talk about top oil & gas companies, I refer to ExxonMobil/Shell/BP, not Ezra/Ezion/Swiber. I know because I work in one of these top oil & gas MNCs and an IT graduate does indeed earn nearly $4,000 as starting salary.

As for the global economy, you just need to look at recent statements by IMF and World Bank, which talk about higher commodity prices, synchronized global growth and accommodative monetary conditions.

Thanks for your encouragement. Worked overseas before. They had perks that Spore companies will never EVER give employees. Even their Spore branch don’t have such perks. But alas, all contracts must end.

I’m actually a mid career switcher. Tell you something funny. I was walking around mid afternoon one day when I met a Malay guy. After some small talk, we both realised we were both looking for jobs. He seemed kind of indignant as he perceived I was not looking hard enough for employment. (I’m just pretty targeted that’s all.) So he led us into a restaurant in 6th Avenue that were hiring. He went in for a brief interview and came out grumbling that the pay was too low.

For myself, no capital. So an online business may be more “doable”. Like on TV, I saw this middle aged couple selling gourmet coffee through the net. They explained that they don’t have to pay rent.

we think you are young. so we suggest you strike it out outside Singapore. not to be a hiree. rather, think the big picture. go to a place that allows first a small eatery, then two, then a chain.

if Singapore kaputs after you are successful, no point coming back and be crowded out of everything. stay where you are and contribute back to the people of the place that have given you success.

but if Singapore is run by another party, as long as not pap, you have a shot in own place of birth. come back. start your chain here. but remember. when you hire local born, give them a fair wage, not the S$2,500 which they never intended for local born even today.

best wishes to you. look outside Singapore. this is the time. because this place as long as continue to be run same same NO HOPE. don’t stick around and be crowded out of everything. no point. give yourself a chance too. outside is hard work too. but, if you plan well, at least you have a chance to making it. not here. as long as you are unconnected to the pap few, you have very little chance. because they already cornered the market themselves.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
a pig is a goat in pap Singapore. so an INDIAN is a malay in same pap Singapore. WTF.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Mate, you worked in one of these BIG OIL and on your first hand knowledge of account, you extrapolate to industry standard across the board. Are you sure one swallow make a summer.

Ong PC: When I talk about top oil & gas companies, I refer to ExxonMobil/Shell/BP, not Ezra/Ezion/Swiber. I know because I work in one of these top oil & gas MNCs and an IT graduate does indeed earn nearly $4,000 as starting salary.

I look at BIG OIL and oil services sector on a global sample. Go to bigcharts.com and play with the interactive chart over 5 years, see how many big oil upstream producers like ExxonMobile/Shell/Conocco-Philips recovered anywhere hear their 5 yr share price high before the oil price collapse in 2015?

Mate, I say they are all struggling head underwater. There is no early father Christmas -despite recent uplift in crude oil prices lifting the share prices of upstream and downstream oil and gas producers.

So I doubted your assertion is correct of generality, maybe an odd one of someone with IT background and some knowledge in the oil and gas industry operation.

If a graduate with accounting knowledge and has some geology background in oil and gas exploration, he or she will also be snapped up for maybe $4K per month, but not…

When I talk about top oil & gas companies, I refer to ExxonMobil/Shell/BP, not Ezra/Ezion/Swiber. I know because I work in one of these top oil & gas MNCs and an IT graduate does indeed earn nearly $4,000 as starting salary.

—————————————————————————
correct,you are not plucking figures from the air.

but i seriously think fresh grads are overpaid vis-a-vis more experienced older staff of such companies like Shell,BP/Exxon as they have to coach n be answerable for their junior staffers?

as for FTs,i think LEE AH LONG is dreaming n thinking that these FAKE TALENTS he lovingly cultivated are LOWER PAID THAN MORE PRODUCTIVE SGS???

lee ah long,you are really living in IVORY TOWER N GETTING FED WITH SOUNDS GOOD FEELS GOOD KIND OF INFO?

MATE, YOU MIGHT HAVE READ IMF/World Bank recent statement of synchronized global growth and accommodative monetary conditions. I would say you are ONLY A TINY right – without going into structural factors and underlying causation. I shall attempt to illuminate to you why you are SUBSTANTIALLY way off the mark.

Ong PC: As for the global economy, you just need to look at recent statements by IMF and World Bank, which talk about higher commodity prices, synchronized global growth and accommodative monetary conditions.

Since early this year, China economy have been on the upswing – manured by easy credit policy. Huge run-up in local govt, corporate and household debt. XJP heading into the 19th Congress of the CCP election would be vulnerable of his power base if the economy stumbles. So China’s economy has to be fired up. And that lift commodities prices – notably iron-ore, manganese and some base metals constraints by supply rigidities. With China’s PPI, PMI on the upturn, global growth, particularly among emerging economies, benefited. Here is my proof – right from the mouth of Zhou Xiaochuan, Governor of the Chinese Central Bank – PBOC.

Zhou Xiao Chuan: If there are too many pro-cyclical factors in the [Chinese] economy, cyclical fluctuations are magnified and there is excessive optimism during the period, accumulating contradictions that could lead to the so-called Minsky Moment.

Again when China slows down to restrain its debt leverage implosion – UNSUSTAINABLE for much longer in the warnings of Zhou Xiao chuan – I think commodities rise we saw may NOT be sustain of its recent rise – except for oil with recent (2 days) power shifts in Saudi Arabia creating uncertainties in supply on top of OPEC cutback in production. Me thinks iron-ore (in Brazil/Australia) and zinc (Australia) is particularly vulnerable because of idle surplus of supply capacity.

So rising commodities prices is NOT merely due to strong Chinese CYCLICAL DEMAND in 2017 but also cutback in production since 2014/2015. So it would be WRONG if you extrapolate IMF/World Bank positive outlook of global economy to rising commodities prices as proof of global synchronized recovery.

It was “synchonized” because of ONE PIVOT PILLAR – CYCLICAL strong growth in China this year.

SO FINALLY IS THE GLOBAL ECONOMY GETTING BETTER? I said definitely NO because of credit tightening ahead, no one has knowledge of how it will impact, no one has an experience to handle evolving turbulence.

And take these warning words from Ravi Menon, MAS Managing Director when he said

Ravi Menon : Some of the structural problems and vulnerabilities that have been afflicting the global economy in the last several years, even before the crisis, these have not gone away…This must not be a time for complacency.

$2,250 is very high pay, thousands of hungry foreigners with university certs too will be happy to take your job and replace you. This is many times of their salary back home where they can’t find a job. You should ask for $1.8k to be safe, then no one will steal your job, it’s still 2k after including CPF.

Past tense LKY’s glorified part-timer MPs getting $16 kilos per month hor! No need degrees they said. Just rub shoulders with PAP and that kind of PEE AND POO monthly income as a part-timer is yours for good.

//We see salary increments in Singapore between 3-5%, with bonuses averaging 2-3 months. Compared to most countries in the developed world, our employment situation is very favourable and our wages are among the highest.//

if so favorable, somemore must give all the special wage credits, skill future funds ($500/- a piece) and all the grants here and grant there and all the top ups. if so good, many will be sustainable (living wage) w/o the need for all these transfers lar.

30 years ago, then more favorable lar. send 3 jobs applications, at least 2 potential employers would call you for interviews – and almost everytime, one would offer you a job lar (closing rate 1/3 or 3/3). now i am hearing hundreds of job applications sent out and you would be lucky if you are even called up for interviews by 1 or 2 (unless you are connected and recommended like friends / relatives / industry ‘champions’. and 30 years, NO special wage credits, NO skill future funds ($500/- a piece) and NO grants here and grant there and NO top ups – because most, both employers and employees, were doing well lar and the situation was VERY VERY VERY favourable lar.

@ oxygen:
I wouldn’t reply after reading this:https://STR.com/2017/11/07/pap-grassroots-leader-confirms-existence-of-internet-brigade/
Excepts from article:
PAP grassroots leader Jason Chua Chin Seng confirmed the existence of the obscured government troll group, PAP Internet Brigade (IB) today. The ex-Malaysian owner of Fabrications About PAP (FAP), a cheerleader Facebook group for the ruling party set up to defame government critics, wrote in a post confirming that he is receiving payouts for his IB work.
“The PAP IB is the equivalent of China’s government-hired troll group, known as the 50-cent army, who are paid 50 yuan (10 cents per comment). According to insider sources familiar with Jason Chua, members of the PAP IB are paid S$1 per comment. Most of the IB members are ex-Malaysians Singaporeans, Singapore permanent residents and “foreigners with vested interests reliant on the ruling party PAP
Another key function of the IB group is to function as “likes” farm. Like some dodgy internet marketing groups promising “likes” and “followers”, the PAP IB ensure that all PAP leaders have substantial “likes”. Dictator Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s Facebook page have more than 1.1 million “likes”, but an estimated 80% of the “likes” are fake profiles generated by the IB.
According to an insider source, the PAP IB is funded by the government’s propaganda ministry, Ministry of Information and Communications, under Minister Yaacob Ibrahim.”.

When I talk about top oil & gas companies, I refer to ExxonMobil/Shell/BP, not Ezra/Ezion/Swiber. I know because I work in one of these top oil & gas MNCs and an IT graduate does indeed earn nearly $4,000 as starting salary.

As for the global economy, you just need to look at recent statements by IMF and World Bank, which talk about higher commodity prices, synchronized global growth and accommodative monetary conditions.

I REPLIED politely yesterday with two post comments to @ Ong PC rebutting each point of his contention WITH LOGICAL EXPLANATIONS with lots of EVIDENCE support (my usual) but for some unknown reason/s it hasn’t appeared till now or it has been censored in TRE.

oxygen: I REPLIED politely yesterday with two post comments to @ Ong PC rebutting each point of his contention WITH LOGICAL EXPLANATIONS with lots of EVIDENCE support (my usual) but for some unknown reason/s it hasn’t appeared till now or it has been censored in TRE.

I would be interested to see how he/she respond to my factual rebuttals strongly backed by evidential support – particularly on his so-called “accomodative financial conditions” (tightening soon) and the global economy being “better” (cyclical, unsure how these economies will sustain when financial conditions tightens next year) which even Ravi Menon cautioned as underlying STRUCTURAL causation of the last GFC still unresolved.

See real job creation by FT. Foxconn and CEO Terry Gou guarantee up to $500 million for jobs creation at Wisconsin plant.

1. …the company would have to meet minimum jobs numbers…to earn tax credits.

2. …to hire…at least 260 next year…at least 5,200 in 2022 and at least 10,400 by 2027. …would have to earn credits each year by meeting or beating these targets.

3. …to pay workers at least $30,000 a year…to receive the credits. The average salary of the workers would also have to be $53,900…to receive the tax credits.

4. …the state to claw back up to 100% of its tax credit…if the company lies to the state, moves the plant or shuts it down. Starting in 2023, the state could claw back up to $500 million if the company doesn’t meet a minimum jobs threshold.

oxygen: I REPLIED politely yesterday with two post comments to @ Ong PC rebutting each point of his contention WITH LOGICAL EXPLANATIONS with lots of EVIDENCE support

Mate, don’t reply to these guys because you & I are getting nothing out of it whereas the IBs are being paid $1.00 per comment. ‘The PAP IB is funded by the government’s propaganda ministry, Ministry of Information and Communications, under Minister Yaacob Ibrahim.’ WE’LL BE MAKING THEM RICH IN NO TIME.
Remember PAP.SURE.WIN [Boleh-land Rubber tapper] who had totally disappeared from the TRE commenting scene. He’s probably struck it rich being a PAP IB ($1.00 per comment x multiple comments in TRE); converted to RM (about 3.2x) & probably with his proceeds bought a ‘Maosang Wang’ durian farm in Boleh-land. He doesn’t need tap rubber these days thanks to the PAP & Minister Yaacob Ibrahim. ‘Most of the IB members are EX-MALAYSIANS SINGAPOREANS, Singapore permanent residents and “foreigners with vested interests reliant on the ruling party PAP.’

//Mate, don’t reply to these guys because you & I are getting nothing out of it whereas the IBs are being paid $1.00 per comment.//

aiyoh. just treat it an education to these white little monkeys lar so that they get to know that their own knowledge (half-baked propaganda) is only good to fool the daft sinkies just for the benefits and cover for the white idiotic policies lar.

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